OLED and IPS LCD Anecdotes

K-Moss

Worth sharing. For this user, IPS LCD is a big improvement over OLED. Feel free to add your own anecdotes.

"With OLED screens, it starts with dry, burning eyes and dull pain. It becomes excruciating pain after a while, vertigo, and migraine headaches. The first stage usually comes after an hour or so, but sometimes much shorter). How long it takes for the second part to start varies a lot, but once it starts, I cannot look at any screens (OLED or LCD, TV or phone) without it feeling like a nail is being driven into my eyes. It takes one to three days for this to reset to where I can comfortably use screens again.

With the LCDs, it is generally just the first stage and doesn't usually make it to the second stage, although I do get dizziness from them sometimes. It isn't all LCDs, but it is every iPhone LCD screen I've tried. Even my iPhone 6S+ causes me problems after a while (much longer than my iPhone SE 3 or iPhone 11).

I'm not talking about solid usage here either, just the normal messaging, maybe a game once in a while, maybe a few short videos.

I've tried all the "fixes". The most they do for me is lengthen the amount of time before I'm in serious pain.

My eink phone has been a great boon. I can actually read e-books again. It can be a little wonky though, and I usually find myself carrying a second phone just in case."

"I don't do much gaming on my PC. I am a developer though and use my computers a lot.

I have a Linux machine from System76 that has a IPS screen with a matte finish. That machine causes me no problems other than the usual eye tiredness if using any screen all day long.

My work gives me a Surface Studio Pro and a MacBook Pro M2 Max. The Surface is an IPS display and usually doesn't cause me much problem -- no noticable PWM. The screen is a little small for me. The MacBook Pro M2 Max is a Mini LCD display. It has PWM and is only usable for an hour or so before I start having problems. It is not as bad as an OLED Phone, but it is worse than an IPS iPhone.

At work I have two HP IPS monitors which I can plug either my Surface or Mac into. These do not cause me any problems.

That said, they have LED lighting with PWM at my work that is horrible for me. I have my cubicle pretty much cut off from the lighting or else I will end up with pain and vertigo. I had to get a note from my optometrist saying that I needed accommodations under ADA to be allowed to cut off my cubicle from the lights."

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1l6fnl5/how_to_know_if_ill_tolerate_it_iphone_oled/

Also, I asked another sensitive user what he is using now. Reply:

"Xiaomi 13T
I tried Samsung S9+ in 2019 and it didn't work for me. Was afraid to touch OLED until I saw a post about 13T from top_g in the sub and decided to give the phone a try
First week was horrible. Then it started to get better. Now I use it all day. Tried xiaomi 14 ultra last year and it was terrible."

Of special interest there: "First week was horrible. Then it started to get better. Now I use it all day."

Most will have a horrible day with a new screen and dismiss it. This person had a horrible week, and yet continued to use it. Then found out he can use it comfortably long term.

Therefore, it goes to show that in some cases continued use leads to comfortable results. I'm reluctant to suggest the Xiaomi 13T as a usable device given his horrible first week with it, but it is what he is comfortably using to this day.

Also, he said:

"You know what's fun? E-ink bigme hibreak pro didn't work for me. So there's something else besides flickering for people."

And:

"As for the OLED and IPS. I think there's something bad about the LED lights. I had an honor magicbook 16 (2021) with an IPS screen and it gave me so much strain without any flickering."

radfaraf

I'm pretty sure at least some of us have health issues causing us to be extra sensitive to non-ideal conditions for our eyes. There also is indeed display tech that is horrible and should be illegal to put in displays -- like PWM, or at least not allowed to be sold without the option to turn it off. And normal eye doctors won't catch this stuff because they are only either concerned with known eye disease that are noticeable by inspecting the eyes in various ways, or if you can see well enough to read letters at a specific size and distance.

There is a lot of complicated brain processing that goes on with vision that can not be working well and nobody will ever diagnosis you with it, or help you with it unless you purposely go to the correct medical providers. As one example among other issues I have binocular vision issues where my eyes don't work to fuse both images together very well, some self-tests with a brock string show I alternate between using one eye, or the other, both eyes, and various versions of these that are slightly blurry in rapid cycling fashion. The test also seems to overload my brain in the exact same way computer screens do, even though all it involves is looking at a small ball on a string in a specific way to test how my eyes are fusing images (it purposely triggers double vision when everything is working properly).

I also have an issue where my eyes when looking at something near turn in too much called convergence excess also easily testable with a brock string. It's common for people to also have the opposite where they don't turn in enough. But my point isn't that you all need to do the same test, or have the exact same issue, but there are really quite a few known things the correct eye doctors can test you for and help correct if it matters to you enough and you have the spare cash to investigate as it will be expensive and likely not covered by insurance unless yours is especially good then you do have a small chance it might. I'm still early in the process so can't tell where this will get me.

But the people that can help you with these kind of and other complex brain/eye issues usually have titles like "developmental optometrist" or "behavioral optometrist". A bit of digging can get you to find enough to see if you can self diagnosis which while maybe not the smartest, can get you maybe motivated to investigate and spend the money to see if you're correct and do vision therapy and/or specialized glasses and other treatments they provide. At the very least when you self test there are quite a number of possible issues we could be having with how our brain is processing vision, and some of them quite complex that you could easily just miss something that you could be helped with, if instead you went to someone knowledgable to run a bunch of advanced tests on you -- then you would less run the risk of missing something important that could be helped.

K-Moss

Another is telling me they highly prefer IPS LCD to OLED.

nah, i had another amoled phone, and it had pwm frequency of 2300 which is considered very safe for most of the people but even with 15 minutes of use i got headaches from it, so nearly brand new phone of only 2 months old i had to sell it for half the price

but they say moto phones are probably safest for eyes, even with amoled, but i don't think I'm gonna ever use amoled now, i had a history of insomnia and migraine so it's just not for me, I'd even switch to e ink phones in the future

when i use ips lcd i only get eye strain and all it doesn't get beyond this, but when i use amoled my head hurts like hell, i gets migraine plus eye strain, it gets dizzy the more i use

even though my phone was considered near flickerfree i still get migraines from it

in tuv eye safety ratings any display with flicker above 1900 considered flickerfree

They are using the TCL 50 Pro Nxtpaper, IPS LCD, and it works well for their needs. They say the Nxtpaper modes are useless and that what is important is DC dimming and the matte finish. Also, they use Android's Color Correction and turn it to GREYSCALE. They use greyscale 100% of the time.

They state also:

the thing is that glaring is also a major factor when it comes to eye strain and amoled with high brightness glare like hell

On his TCL 50:

I'm using tcl phone as of now, it's a lot better than any amoled phone and even better than normal ips lcd for sure
if i use it for hours only then i get eye strain from it.

He has dark eyes and cited past digital abuse, where his screen time was many hours per day.

Now he says:

there was a vast difference i noticed
in normal ips lcd i get strain after 2-3 hours
but in oled it starts even after 15-20 minutes

Also:

i think what i noticed is that when i have my insomnia in check it takes a lot to get eye strain the next day
maybe it's just have to do with sleep
so I'm gonna focus on that now
sleep is the best thing one can do to recover from any damage
be it mental or physical

also I've found a heck for eye strain
when there's eye strain
just go out in the sun
and spend 20-30 minutes
it'll be normal in no time
a game changer for me sure

K-Moss

I really sympathize with you man, I know what it's like because I have the exact same problem. The flickering on OLED panels causes me terrible eyestrain and headaches.

I ended up switching back to my old phone (Lenovo ZUK Z2 Plus) and I have been using that for the past 3 years or so. There are very few decent options with IPS and it's deeply frustrating as someone with this problem.

Within the next few years we should hopefully see mini-LED make it's way into devices and replace OLED technology. I heard it is coming to the next iPad Pro and there's already an MSI laptop with it. The smartphone market should follow suit.

http://reddit.com/r/PickAnAndroidForMe/comments/hh2tgc/comment/fw8yi51/

And another:

One evening on the 15PM ruined my eyes and brain for two+ days. It's the second worse reaction I've had since the X. I cannot use any OLED iPhone. For me, the standard 13 then 14 were milder negative effects, but after a week on both, I had to return them as my eye strain turned into headaches.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/17t1r81/iphone_15_pro_max_with_massive_eye_strain_nausea/

I've never "adjusted" - if an OLED iPhone seems fine at first, it's only a matter of days before the negative effects build. I've been unable to own an OLED iPhone = all returned for refund. Still on my 11.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1k5f4j8/comment/moncbj9/

Like every OLED iPhone before it, the 16E gave me eye strain. I could feel my eye muscles straining within 20 minutes and my upper forehead area started to build pressure which would have resulted in a headache. Again, it feels like a torch light is being flashed across my vision, forcing my eyes to focus more in an attempt to read anything on the screen.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1j0rowg/comment/mfm5lb5/

I’ve been unable to use any OLED iPhone up to this point. Every year I hope something has changed and I snagged a 15PM. The first evening was fine although I felt a little motion sickness. The next morning I had strobing vision, eye strain and a migraine that lasted a week. The 15PM is second to the X for worst effects on me. Back to my 11.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/17eeu4y/comment/k6t4xtv/

That's the funny thing with me as well. I have two 65 inch LG OLED's and I can watch them endlessly without any PWM symptoms. I don't know if it's because they are big and I sit far back or if they use a different type of screen/technology that doesn't impact my eyes. However, as soon as I use a phone with an OLED including high frequency like the OnePlus 12 I can't stare for more than 5 mins without feeling sick.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1cjco4i/just_ordered_motorola_edge_50_pro/

K-Moss

moto edge 30 has ruined my life for 2 years, I recently realised that it's all due to the LED display. Its display got screen full of green lines two times, replaced the first time but discarded the phone the second time. It made my life a living hell for 2 years with sleepless nights, lethargic mornings, headaches and what not.

I now switched to HMD Fusion 5G(Indian Variant) which has a 720p + 90Hz LCD, although I use it at 60 Hz. Now I am able to fall asleep within 5-10 minutes even on my bad days, my productivity improved a lot, and feeling a lot better wrt health.

Thanks a lot to every member of this great community from where I learnt about my disorder and am now able to navigate through it.

https://www.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/comments/1n9wlbk/my_journey_from_an_oled_to_lcd/

The Moto Edge 30 features a P-OLED display with a high refresh rate of 144Hz, providing smooth visuals, vibrant colors, and deep contrasts for an enhanced viewing experience.

The HMD Fusion 5G features a 6.56-inch IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate and an HD+ (720 x 1612 pixels) resolution. While it offers smooth scrolling due to the high refresh rate, the display has a lower resolution and peak brightness that some find insufficient for bright outdoor use.

Oh🥲 Yeah, I am able to fall asleep in 5-10 minutes. Earlier I used to fall asleep after 2-3 AM when I went to bed literally at 11:30 - 12 PM. My screen time on Fusion 5G is 10hr+, so it's working 😃